Sine Die Report
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Sine Die Report The Idaho State Legislature A Summation of the 2019 Legislative Session Contents 2019 Legislative Leadership ........................................................3 2019 Committee Chairs ..............................................................4 Introduction ..............................................................................5 Volume of Legislation and Length of Session ................................6 Rules Review .............................................................................7 2019 Legislative Action on Major Issues .......................................8 2019 Interim Committees ......................................................... 17 Legislation Vetoed by the Governor ........................................... 17 Budget Summary ..................................................................... 18 General Fund Revenue Collections and Estimates ....................... 20 FY 2019 General Fund Revenues ............................................... 21 FY 2020 General Fund Revenues ............................................... 23 General Fund Comparison: Original Appropriation to JFAC Action . 24 FY 2019 General Fund Revenue & Appropriations pie charts ........ 25 FY 2020 General Fund Revenue & Appropriations pie charts ........ 26 State of Idaho Major Reserve Fund Balances .............................. 27 Budget Highlights ..................................................................... 28 This report and a complete listing of all legislation are available at www.legislature.idaho.gov. Full text of all bills is available on the website, including statements of purpose, fiscal notes and legislative action. Cover photo by John M. Carver 2019 Legislative Leadership [2] Senate Brent Hill, President Pro Tempore Chuck Winder, Majority Leader Steven Vick, Assistant Majority Leader Kelly Arthur Anthon, Majority Caucus Chair Michelle Stennett, Minority Leader Cherie Buckner-Webb, Assistant Minority Leader Maryanne Jordan, Minority Caucus Chair House of Representatives Scott Bedke, Speaker of the House Mike Moyle, Majority Leader Jason Monks, Assistant Majority Leader Megan Blanksma, Majority Caucus Chair Mathew W. Erpelding, Minority Leader Ilana Rubel, Assistant Minority Leader Elaine Smith, Minority Caucus Chair [3] 2019 Committee Chairs Senate Jim Guthrie Todd Lakey Agricultural Affairs Judiciary and Rules Jim Patrick Jim Rice Commerce and Human Resources Local Government and Taxation Dean Mortimer Lee Heider Education Resources and Environment Steve Bair Patti Anne Lodge Finance State Affairs Fred Martin Bert Brackett Health and Welfare Transportation House of Representatives Judy Boyle Thomas Dayley Agricultural Affairs Judiciary, Rules and Administration Rick Youngblood Ron Mendive Appropriations Local Government Sage Dixon Marc Gibbs Business Resources and Conservation James Holtzclaw Gary Collins Commerce and Human Resources Revenue and Taxation Lance Clow Steven Harris Education State Affairs John Vander Woude Joe Palmer Environment, Energy and Technology Transportation and Defense Fred Wood Robert Anderst Health and Welfare Ways and Means [4] Introduction Medicaid, public schools, campaign finance, water rights and the voter initiative were among the predominant themes of the First Regular Session of the 65th Idaho Legislature. The Session began on January 7, 2019, and new‐ ly elected Governor Brad Little gave his first State of the State and budget address to a joint session of the Legisla‐ ture that afternoon. During the 2019 session, the Legislature grappled with implementing Medicaid expansion stemming from the ap‐ proval of a voter initiative passed at the 2018 general election. Among other aspects of Medicaid expansion, the Legislature approved funding for the expansion and added provisions governing work requirements, substance use disorders risk assessments and the use of Medicaid funds to cover treatment of adults for mental disease. On another important topic, the Legislature approved an increase in minimum public school teacher pay and again funded the career ladder compensation for teachers. Also, in House Bill 001, the legislature adopted an agree‐ ment between various stakeholders governing water users in the Boise River Basin and outlining the role of the Idaho Department of Water Resources in authorizing water rights for new water storage. The Legislature also re‐ vised provisions relating to the voter initiative; however, that effort was vetoed by the Governor (Senate Bill 1159 and House Bill 296). Other high‐profile legislative actions included strengthening campaign finance laws by extending reporting re‐ quirements to local campaigns that meet a certain threshold and requiring the filing of regular monthly reports with the Secretary of State’s office during election years. The Legislature also revised urban renewal laws by re‐ quiring voter approval for the construction or remodel of a municipal building or multipurpose sports stadium complex when the cost of the project exceeds $1 million (not including infrastructure costs) and when at least 51% of the project will be paid for by public funds (not including federal funds). Regarding public education, for the fifth year in a row, the Legislature increased the General Fund appropriation for K‐12 by more than $100 million. For FY 2020, the appropriation increased by $113 million from the General Fund over last year’s appropriation. This increase includes $49.7 million for the fifth year of the five‐year phase‐in of the career ladder compensation system for teachers, bringing the total amount of new career ladder funding since FY 2016 to $226 million. The FY 2020 appropriation also includes $3.8 million for the increase in the mini‐ mum teacher salary to $38,500 beginning July 1, 2019, and to a minimum of $40,000 in FY 2021. The salary in‐ creases will be implemented over a two‐year period. The increase in FY 2021 is anticipated to be $7.6 million and that funding will be budgeted next Legislative Session. The FY 2020 appropriation also adds $7.3 million for a 3% base salary increase for administrators and classified staff, which are categories of employees not on the career ladder. It also adds $21.8 million in discretionary dollars that includes funding for health insurance costs and oth‐ er general operations at the districts and charter schools, and well as fully funding the Governor’s K ‐ 3 literacy initiative recommendation at $13.1 million, bringing the new total for K–3 literacy to $26.1 million. There are ad‐ ditional increases and decreases in several other funding distributions that net to a $113 million General Fund in‐ crease over the current year, which reflects a 6.3% increase. As for other statewide budget matters, revenue projections for FY 2020 represent the ninth consecutive year of economic growth in the state. In January 2019, the Division of Financial Management revised the FY 2019 forecast upward to $3.75 billion, reflecting a 0.5% revenue growth over actual FY 2018 collections. The Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee concurred with the projections from the executive branch for the purposes of setting budgets. For FY 2020, the Division of Financial Management provided an original forecast of $4.06 bil‐ lion; however, EORAC recommended JFAC and the Legislature use a forecast of $3.96 billion due to uncertainty regarding income tax withholdings and estimated income tax payments. For the purposes of setting budgets, JFAC used a revenue projection of $4.01 billion. Through several pieces of legislation, the Legislature added $11.8 million, mostly from House Bill 183, to estimated revenues in FY 2020, for a total revenue projection in FY 2020 of $4.02 billion Legislators wrote more than 720 pieces of draft legislation, of which approximately 68% were introduced as bills. The following is a summary list of selected key actions that successfully made their way through the legislative process in the 2019 Legislature. [5] Volume of Legislation and Length of Session During the 2019 legislative session, 761 proposed pieces of legislation were prepared for legislative committees and individual legislators. From that initial group of draft proposals, 522 bills were actually introduced, along with another 67 resolutions, memorials and proclamations. By the end of the session, 331 bills had been passed. After final legislative action, and following the Governor’s review, 329 intro- duced bills became law, with the majority of the new laws to become effective July 1, 2019. Two bills were vetoed by the Governor. From Drafting to Enactment 10‐Year Comparison 900 831 839 826 827 816 799 761 785 777 800 763 700 565 600 561 542 551 540 557 523 545 554 500 377 357 353 357 359 400 353 339 347 342 335 300 200 100 0 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 Bills Enacted into Law Bills Introduced Legislation Drafted Length of Session When the Legislature adjourned sine die on April 11th, it had been in session for 95 days. The 2019 leg- islative session was fifteen days longer than the previous session and the longest since 2009. Length of Recent Sessions (Days) 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 95 80 80 75 89 74 88 81 88 78 [6] Rules Review At the beginning of each legislative session, the Legislature takes up the important task of reviewing all pending, pending fee and temporary rules that have been promulgated by state agencies. The Legisla- ture can prevent pending rules from going into effect, as well as prevent final rules from remaining in effect,